MODERN METHODS OF VACUUM ARC IGNITION IN TECHNOLOGICAL PLASMA SOURCES

The study investigates various methods of initiating vacuum-arc discharges in technological plasma sources. New designs of plasma sources have been developed, in which vacuum arc ignition is carried out using both contact and non-contact methods, including the use of a starting injector, the transition from a glow discharge to an arc discharge, and laser radiation with cleaning of the laser beam input window from the condensed film. It was found that the service life of starting injectors depends on the material filling the discharge gap: with M-7 ceramic it does not exceed 104 operations, with 22KhS ceramic it is about 105 operations, and when using composite materials it exceeds 106 operations under the conditions of an ignition energy of 5 J, a working pulse frequency of 1 Hz, and an arc duration of 2 s.